Getting Out of Dodge
by EagerImmediately
Summary: When the prospect of evacuation at the Vannah goes up in smoke, a newly formed group of survivors will have to work together if they ever plan on getting out of Savannah with their sanity intact.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The world of L4D2 and it's characters belong to VALVe, certainly not either of us.**

* * *

"Puke in the hole!"

To her left, Nick threw a vile of vomit. Green and bubbling, it splattered to the floor. Infected gathered around it like it was Christmas morning and Alice prepared her machine gun. The regular ones were easy to kill with just a gun. This was a well known fact by now. Still, the fire helped. Fire? Where the hell was the fire coming from...

"Hey!" She called to the man at her right. He was at least a few yards away from her and Alice had to raise her voice to be heard. "We're heading toward the elevator, you comin' or what?"

No answer, only a blank stare.

Alice shrugged. "Your choice, dude."

* * *

This had been another very bad idea. They hadn't been ready for this. Then again, it wasn't as if Walsh had been anticipating The Vannah to suddenly go up in flames. It'd taken so long to get up here too.

Just where the hell was she!

It was chaos. ...what if someone shot her? There were people here due to the evac postings after all. Why wouldn't there have been fire? Of all things...not again.

_Please, not again._

"Hey!" a voice called and he couldn't help but turn, he'd heard the sound of their gunshots for a few moments and froze, hoping a little body wouldn't be filled with holes at the end. The girl who'd shouted was currently blasting a crowd of the things with a machine gun, while a man in a white suit took care of the stragglers with a fire axe. "Don't just stand there, man! Get in the elevator!"

How could he? Not when...wait...was that?

He ducked quickly into a room and grasped hard as the hem of a crouched infected in a yellow hoodie, breathing out in relief when the tiny thing latched onto him like it would drown instead of trying to tear him apart. He held her in one arm softly, slipping his wrecking bar into one of the belt straps and un-holstering the Glock.

It's not like discretion mattered anymore anyway.

"Hold the fucking door!"

* * *

"Holdin' it!" she called back. The man rushed into the elevator, a lump of dead weight clutched to his frame. His kid?

"Thanks," he breathed.

"No problem," she said as she let go of the elevator doors.

"So," the suited man continued roughly, shouldering a bag of his own. "We doing introductions or what? I'm Nick."

"Rochelle." A black woman called out, hands shaking ever so slightly.

"Ya'll can call me Ellis."

"Everyone calls me Coach," a heavy set man said, reloading his rifle. "I don't see why you guys can't do the same."

"How 'bout you, hot shot?" Alice finally looked up from her gun and to the man beside her. "You and the kid got names?"

Alice saw, frankly, every reason in the world for them all not to trust each other. It was rule number one of 'Zombieland'. It didn't matter that Nick had saved her, it only meant that, at that moment, she owed him. Perhaps it was the fact that both being defensive and untrusting was what made them equal partners.

It was their choice. They trusted them, or they didn't. She wouldn't. She didn't. However, going down this elevator was literally the way out. Literally. The odds of being inside it were better than out of it.

Her gaze followed back over to the kid on his arm. To an extent, she knew how he probably felt. Her only reason for staying alive, despite being able to be alive, was to help William get out of the school alive. It was her motivation. It was her reason. So, despite the fact William was just as old as her, bigger than her, and...blonder than Alice, she knew how the man felt.

* * *

It'd taken a full magazine to get to them. Walsh had one extra left.

His shoulder was starting to ache with the combined weight of Billy and the bookbag. They hadn't even gotten any supplies like planned. The cart was still on the floor they'd all just left. And now they were stuck in a small, closed off elevator with four armed, upset people.

"Jacob Walsh, and this is Billy, my brother. He's uh," he said, rubbing at his eyes awkwardly with the Glock and pulling the hood over the infected further, getting a murmur of weak chittering in return. "He's Autistic..."

"Just fucking lovely," Nick muttered, looking at the doors. "Someone incapable of using a gun."

Rochelle scoffed at him, lifting the baseball bat close to her chest. "It's not like I'd even know how to use a gun if given one either."

"Aw, it's easy, just point and pull the trigger!" Ellis exclaimed good humouredly, tapping his own shotgun and grinning at the woman.

"I think you missed out a few key steps there, overalls," Nick said, before reaching over and pushing a button on the panel, which elicited a bunch of cursing from behind him. He sneered at the lot. "To hell with that. Those goddamn things are right outside, you saw them coming in from the ledges! And we've being fighting them all over this place. The minute that door opens, they'll just flood from the lobby and we'll be packed in like sardines while they eat our brains!"

It was effective enough to quiet down any protest and Nick relaxed, spinning his bloodied axe and leaning against the wall. "Better we get to the parking lot, take a car and get out of this deathtrap."

At the mention of Grand Theft Auto, Ellis visibly brightened. "You mean like hotwire? Shit, can I do that?"

"No."

Ellis shook his head and turned toward the doors, muttering that he was going to be driving anyway. Walsh sighed, hushing Billy who'd started getting fidgety as Nick's voice had rose. He turned toward the big, middle aged man, currently holding a rifle. "Coach, right? I really hope you can spare some extra ammo."

* * *

"The guys I used to pal around with, well, we went across two states in a bus. Not to mention, Nick and I still rode about, like, six hours before our car died. So I'm sure we can find some gas, right? Or a few cars with gas?"

"Want to hear my prediction?" Nick asked.

"No," Rochelle and Coach stated.

"Watch, they'll be no gas, you just watch."

"That'd be our luck, Nicky, that'd be our luck," Alice sighed and cocked her double barrel. "Fuck this. Anyone find a chainsaw lately? No? Fuck."

"I got a baseball bat!" Ellis said. "You should try 'em, they're real fun."

"Nah, you keep it." She shrugged. "I'm more of a fryin' pan kinda gal myself."

"Since when?" Nick snickered.

"When I run out of grenades, bullets and fire..."

After a moment of silence, Alice's head began to turn again. "William's right. We're gonna run out of bullets eventually. My vote goes to building a van, but like a high tech one. You know, take a wood-chipper and bulldozer and stuff. That or we find a boat and go out in the ocean."

"My name is Walsh."

"I know that." He gave her a quizzical expression. "No seriously!" Though she didn't regret leaving the bus, Alice was beginning to miss her nerd.

"You know how to drive a boat?" Ellis asked.

"Dude, I come from an island off of North Carolina, anyone who doesn't know how to drive a boat... well, they're certifiably insane."


	2. Chapter 2

"With our luck as of yet, it'll probably have no gas. Shiiit, might as well run them sons a bitches over with a monster truck."

"I'm sure one of you guys can operate a gas station and fill up a few canisters as well. They should still be running, it hasn't been that long," Walsh began, trying to roll his aching shoulder.

He wished he could use the sunglasses he'd loaned to Billy, even the bright light in the elevator was starting to give him a headache.

"And no, there's no way in hell I'm going to get in a monster truck or anything of the sort. That's like a gigantic advertisement to half a million, fast, berserk people to climb aboard and tear at us. Not to mention, the new ones that've been coming out. Those Hulkish things."

"Tanks," Rochelle whispered, frowning at the thought. "Coach and I ran into them once before."

"Yeah, those things. Seriously, these are not the slow shufflers in the movies. They can hear you, fuck, they can _smell_ you if you get too close. I just want to go to a corner and hide until they all starve to death or some shit. I wouldn't put my trust into CEDA and evac anyway, probably want to gas and dissect us."

Nick sneered, "I'm telling you, it was probably them that started this shit. And now they're trying to clean up their mess. We should-"

But he was cut off as the elevator gave a ding and the doors opened into the quiet, underground parking lot.

-o-

It seemed empty, as luck would have it.

Nick, Ellis, Alice, and Coach went ahead, with Walsh keeping the rear. Rochelle hung back as well, looking at the infected in his arms with something akin to pity. "...You want me to hold him for you?"

_God Yes._

"I've got him, wouldn't let go of me anyway...but thank you."

She nodded and looked around once more, gripping the dark bat in her hands harshly.

The Vannah was a huge hotel and sported not one but four massive levels simply for the vehicles. It appeared that Nick had brought them to the last and by default, lowest level. Which seemed like both a blessing and a curse at the moment.

"Shit, what about this one, guys?" Ellis called out, running his hand fondly over the black hood of a 1967 Chevy Impala.

"There probably won't be much room for all of us. Someone might have to sit in another's lap." Nick cut in, only sparing a glance on it. "First time I've ever said that as if it were a bad thing."

* * *

Alice shrugged. "Whatever you say, Dr. Nick..."

"Seriously?" Nick scoffed. He hadn't expected that as a reaction.

"Dude, it's an Impala." She rolled her eyes. "I'll sit wherever as long as I can get in the damn thing... Where are we going anyways?"

"New Orleans," Coach answered. "I heard there's a safe place there."

"That's right." Ellis agreed and began to play with the cables of the car. "I hope this thing's got gas."

"If it doesn't then I'm blowing it up." Alice sat on the trunk of the car, pulling her knees up to her chin. "We sharin stories on the ride?"

Nick shook his head. "Oh, for the love of God, no."

* * *

Walsh had to admit, that was one nice muscle car.

Definitely capable of busting more than just a few heads on their way out, and even taking some of the rougher roads out there. That guy had very good taste in vehicles. The New Orleans plan that Coach and Ellis were now suggesting didn't put him at ease though, it was bound to be just as packed, if not more, of infected.

"You really want to head to another heavily populated area?" He started, shifting Billy for the umpteenth time and dodging an irritated nip to his neck. "Hasn't CEDA shown to be less than reliable enough times already? Hiding is a better idea."

Ellis by then had somehow managed to open the door of the car without damaging it, slipping something from his own keychain into the groove between the driver's door and frame. He'd popped the hood from there, going back around to fiddle inside.

Nick pulled the other door open and slipped in, letting one suited leg hand out as he got comfortable on the black leather. "This one has a point. I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick and tired of trying to get to evac stations. Nice seats..." He sat back, looking at the young man right in front, still playing around with the engine. "You'd better know what you're doing there, overalls, or we're leaving you behind."

"Don't you worry, Nick."

"Yeah, that's what my Parole Officer said...and my wife, and my other wife, and my mother, and those servers at the hotdog stand, and CEDA-"

"I think we get the point, Nick," Coach interrupted, getting in the back and looking around. "Used to have one of these babies when I was younger. 1965; Candy Apple Red. Man... Had my first date with my wife in it, _among __other__ things_...brings back a lot of memories," he finished somberly, resting his rifle between his legs and wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"Really? Would've liked to have seen that, Coach," Ellis exclaimed from the front cheerfully, causing Nick to shake his head slightly.

"You're a sick little individual."

"Hey, I meant the car! You know that! ...Coach, you know I meant the car, right?"

Walsh leaned against a small Benz, catching bits of the other's conversation as he scanned the vast sea of vehicles along with Rochelle. A team of guns this time around didn't seem so bad, as well as some company other than an infected at least. It'd just been the two of them all the way to Georgia anyway, mostly through populated areas in the daylight but as the infected changed so did the terms of the strategy. Getting here hadn't been a picnic.

He didn't know how long he'd be able to stay with the group. Hopefully for a while, if they at least continued to buy Walsh's story about Billy. But one look at Billy's eyes or even _pallor_ would bring that hope crashing down faster than the Vannah.

The girl in question chose that moment to clear her nose, spraying a line of snot onto his shoulder and Walsh grimaced, glaring as she smacked her thin lips obliviously at him. "I am never carrying you again."

There was a roar of an engine as the ignition was started and a simultaneous exclamation of 'I told you so' came from his side.

"Guys?" Came a soft, distracted voice from his other side and Walsh turned to see Rochelle creeping towards two adjacent cars. The woman looked back at the group and noticed that Walsh was the only one that'd heard her. 'Jacob, come over here!' she mouthed frantically, gesturing between the cars as if there were an angry animal there.

Instead, it was a woman in a business suit, curled around her own body, face against the concrete floor and looking as if she'd passed out.

Another survivor?

There wouldn't be any room in their car if this kept on happening. But as she lifted her head, Billy's tiny claws dug into his shirt and Walsh instinctively raised his gun at the crouched lady. Rochelle by then had gotten quite close to her once she knew someone was covering her back. She knelt down, trying to see something other than the hair that'd fallen from a bun into the woman's face.

"Are you okay?" The shivering stopped abruptly and Rochelle stiffened, watching the woman lift her face up and give a slow hiss. "Oh, fuck..."

Her bat leveled sharply with the infected woman's head but it did nothing to deter the madwoman. She lunged at Rochelle, and Walsh shot two rounds into her stomach before they were both rolling on the floor. Jesus, were those claws!

Two more rounds made it into a thigh and shoulder before the head of a fire axe drove into her neck. Rochelle gasped and pushed the infected off of her, scuttling back a bit and grabbing her bleeding chest. Nick knelt down to her, grabbing her hand and pulling it away to see the damage.

"Is she okay?" Ellis asked, before thinking better and amending, "You're gonna be okay, Ro."

"We can worry about that when we're in the car. Everyone in the car NOW!" Nick barked, picking her up in his arms. There was a distant screaming that could now be heard as a horde started its way toward their group, still unseen.

Ellis jumped into the driver's seat, while Walsh and Coach took the back, quickly followed by Rochelle in the middle before Nick and Alice got in front. Coach rolled down the window, sticking his rifle out and watching for the incoming horde.

"Tonight's top story...Rochelle is not going to make it..." she growled sarcastically, gritting her teeth. "This was not supposed to be the way I went out."

Nick attempted turning around to look at Rochelle. "You're not going to die, sweetheart. Does anyone have any fucking medicine!"

Walsh silently cursed, weighing his options and looking at the suffering woman in front of him. After a moment he relented. "I do...hold Billy for me, Coach."

* * *

"Fucking bitch!" Alice growled, her gun causing her knees to shake against the door. "Shove some pills down that chick's throat already!" All it took was a little more ammunition and the... Great, what were they gonna name this one? Witch? She liked that one. Nick had gotten to name the last one; Jockey. She still didn't agree with his thought process, she would have much rather called it Head Humper.

At least the little crying bitch was dead though.

"Already on that!" But she was too jittery to take notice of what he'd said, already grabbing her bag by her feet and turning around.

"The ones in the backpack! Here!" She tossed them toward Walsh's direction. "They'll take care of the pain... What the fuck..."

The kid... It was a... Ah, shit. And by this time, Coach looked like he could spit nails.


	3. Chapter 3

"No, you're doing it wrong!"

"Would you like to do it! ?" Walsh wasn't sure if it was even possible to try and stitch a woman's chest together, all the while trying to escape a giant underground parkway filled with frothing zombies. It'd been hard enough giving her the 500mg Tylenol with one of his bottles of clean water, which would probably do jack shit, but they didn't have time to be rooting around in his back pack for anything stronger right now. Cleaning the wounds had been even worse, and by the time he'd finished, there was an unholy amount of blood, iodine, and saline soaking into the seats underneath her.

He'd gotten injuries before, but there'd always been actual doctors to do the fixing. And even with the impressive bag of goodies he'd collected concerning this very thing, the stress of this entire situation made it so much worse.

"Yes, actually, I would," Nick stated, turning around even further and reaching for the sutures right before his head hit the roof as the Impala drove over an infected.

"Watch the road, dumbshit!"

"What do you think I'm doing, man! ?" Ellis cried, taking a sharp turn as they made their way up another level.

"Where the hell did you get your license! ?" Nick huffed a bit more, before turning his attention back to the other two and beginning the instruction anew, surprisingly learned on it. Just what had this man gotten up to in his life?

Coach was steadying Rochelle against his chest as the car continued to drive past and into the horde. "Hold on, baby girl. We're going to be out of this soon. ...Put faith in God."

"God..." she started, looking up at him and seeing Billy in the other arm, just as the sunglasses slipped enough to reveal milky, wide eyes. "Oh God..."

The look didn't go unnoticed and Walsh froze. "Rochelle..." he warned, bringing her frightened attention back to him. "It's okay." His eyes darted up briefly to Billy and Coach who looked just as shaken, before coming back down to hers. "It's okay."

"It'd better be," she growled miserably. He looked up just as Nick noticed what the others had.

Fuck.

And he was really starting to like them too.

* * *

The bump in the road had landed Alice sprawled out in the front seat. Her back was pressed against Nick and her legs were trying to find solid ground again.

"Ten points!" she grunted. "She better yet? !"

Maybe if she ignored the fact that there was a zombie... kid... thing hanging around in the back seat, closed her eyes, clicked her heals three times and repeated the phrase 'There's no place like home.' then maybe, just maybe, it would go away. Or at least be unnoticed... There was no way that 'Billy' wasn't Walsh's 'William'. He wouldn't pull just anybody with him and carry him around like that.

They turned another corner and Alice braced herself against Ellis' arm. She then pulled more in Nick's direction in hopes of staying out of the driver's way.

* * *

"_You brought one of them in here?"_ Nick whispered in disbelief, reaching for his axe and stopping short as a pistol was immediately brought to his jaw. If he was right, it still had quite a few rounds left. Certainly more than enough to ruin his suit.

Walsh's face had quickly become grave at the man's realization and he swallowed dryly, wholly aware of how bad this could turn out in a few seconds. Nick turned his eyes toward him, darting briefly toward Rochelle who was watching the two in alarm.

"Calm down, people," Coach cut in harshly, sweat covering his brow as he kept the infected tight under his arm, gamely ignoring it. "Now is not the time for this shit."

"He's not going to hurt you, and we're all immune. So I fail to see the problem."

"Really, Jake? Because I see a big one, right over there; in his hands."

The car was suddenly blasted with a bright green acid that eroded the wipers as Ellis turned them on, cursing profusely. "Dammit, ya'll gonna ruin her!"

Everyone in the car other than Ellis was watching him, and Nick looked around wildly, settling on Billy. "If that thing..." he started, baring his teeth for a split second and looking back at Walsh. "If it starts anything, it and you are going to be the first to go."

Walsh relaxed, slowly lowering his gun and letting out a breath. "Fair enough."

"Guys..."

Nick and Walsh started at Rochelle's weakened voice, quickly getting back to the situation at hand.

"You're going to have to lift the bra up, Ro," Nick said, keeping Billy in the corner of his eyes as he spoke. The little infected was grasping tightly at the collar of Coach's polo; causing the large man to grunt and angle his head further away.

"Nick, she's a lady! That ain't right."

"Really? I didn't notice." He laid one hand against the roof to steady himself. "Like we all haven't seen it before, she needs stitches there and the bra will just get in the way."

"You know, I don't think-" but Coach wasn't able to finish before Rochelle's shrill voice interrupted.

"Look, I'm not a child! So just do it and get it over with!"

"WHOOOO! Freedom!" Ellis cried as they hit the surface at breakneck speed and everyone else tried to hang on for dear life. "You guys love me! I know you do!"

Rochelle moaned in grief, grabbing Walsh's hand harshly in the process. "I'm going to kill that boy, I swear."

"You and me both," Nick groaned, rubbing his aching skull and looking around at the others.

* * *

"You're gonna need to be a better driver, El." She slid in his direction now to give Nick enough room to get over toward Rochelle. "Or else I'm takin' over."

Though she knew the woman was in pain, she would be wasting her time not making a strategic plan. Her mind began to mull over all the different things they would need for the boat. She'd like a Party boat, something with room, maybe a Charter if they were lucky. Then she'd step up and find something with more room and space. Not a ferry, it was too slow, but she knew for a fact that there were mutant boats out there. Even if it was against the law, her uncle's always had some weird contraption made. If all else failed then a Party boat would work perfectly.

Then she started wondering about supplies. She didn't want people having to run around and find all this stuff, so where could they go?

* * *

"Please tell me you have more."

Coach had stated that there was a Walmart where they could get some supplies around ten miles away and Ellis had pointed them in that direction, doing much better once out of the mob. The plan was to get there before night set and the real trouble began. Once they got the starting supplies, they'd find an abandoned road and rest for the night.

Walsh nodded, digging in his pockets for matches before handing another cigarette to Nick. The man swatted the infected hand that reached for it away. Billy had long since been passed back to Walsh once the bandages were on Rochelle; it'd seemed to ease the tension a bit. He rolled the window down, intent on letting the smoke fly out before it could bother the others.

His stomach growled and he winced, aware that the last of his food, trail bars, had gone to the other ladies in the group once Billy found the first.

Nick reached for the car lighter instead, rather than chance being touched by Billy again. He'd given up even looking at her, content to ignore her presence for the time being.

Ellis let out a curse and swerved, still managing to clip the shoulder of a crouched infected and cause another bump.

"He came out of nowhere, guys. I swear on Jimmy Gibbs Jr!"

Rochelle gave a small moan of discomfort, not nearly as bad as before. She was now resting solely on Coach, wrapped in only her bra and the bandages; nursing the bottle of water from before.

"Tits! Why don't any of those infected respect traffic laws! The light was on our side!" Nick growled, sticking his head out the window and screaming at the rolling infected, "Pay attention to the light, you moron!"

"They can't Nick," Ellis told him matter of factly, giving him a scrutinizing look out of the corner of his eyes. "They're zombies."


	4. Chapter 4

"That place is bound to be packing those things..."

Nick took a long drag and let out a sigh, watching Ellis pull into the parking lot of the huge store. "Alright...Jake and Coach, you guys are going to grab the food and toiletries. Keep it simple, canned food and the like, don't go crazy on the cookies and milk. We don't have that much time. I'll stick with these two and we'll handle the other shit."

"Alright! Let's kick some zombie ass!" Ellis laughed, quickly getting out of the car and Nick turned back to them.

"See? That's why I've got to stay with him."

Walsh opened the door and got out, waiting for Coach to do the same before placing Billy back in with Rochelle. Ellis was still by the Impala, talking to the car softly and ghosting his hand over the hood. "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever sat between... I love you..."

Walsh shook his head at the statement and winced, feeling his eyes close in pain from the daylight. Leaning down he reached out toward the infected. "Gonna need these, babe," he whispered, lifting the sunglasses off of Billy. Rochelle leaned further back, frowning.

"Jacob, you can't leave me in here with him!"

"Sorry, Ro. Billy would only slow me down," he said, slipping the wrecking bar out of the belt loop. "Trust me, he won't do shit. Now stay low, keep the windows rolled up, and they shouldn't bother you."

Not with a car covered in more than a gallons worth of infected blood, at any rate. Hell, these two had the best hiding spot in the city.

He looked ahead as Ellis caught up with the other two, scouting the front of the store and waving back at him and Coach, who shouldered his rifle.

"Best to get this shit over with now."

* * *

"Alright, boys," Alice sighed as she slid out of the car and stretched her arms above her head. "Nick, you'll be getting meds, right? Ellis, you're gonna get gas, lots of it, boats eat gas like a hungry hippo. As for me, I'm gonna get some maps, compasses, and shit like that. Stay close by, as busy as Walmart is without there being a rush, imagine how it is during an epidemic."

"Just gas?" Ellis asked.

"Trust me, that's a pretty productive job on its own. Nick's on med duty just so he can watch my ass." Behind her, Nick snorted.

"Shut up..." Alice made sure her machine gun was loaded. "Wait a sec, guys. We're gonna want lots of puke."

She grabbed one of the backpacks that was thrown in the Impala before the Witch attacked. Unzipping it, she revealed that the tote was filled with nothing but vials of puke.

"You have a backpack...full of zombie chunks?" Ellis made a disgusted face and Alice shrugged.

"Me and Nick grabbed a bunch from the Vannah and, trust me, this is gonna help a lot. Think about it, if we can get all the zombies in one place, we can take care of 'em pretty quick."

Ellis nodded and cocked his gun. "Let's do this."

The team of three had decided to go in the back way. From experience, Coach had told them that was the quickest way to what they were looking for. He also told them that they had a whole shop corner that was like a mini West Marin, to which Alice grinned from ear to ear.

They stood in front of the double doors, the glass too smeared with blood and vomit for them to see the inside. It was disturbingly eerie as they slid apart; they weren't surprised to find infected waiting for them.

Nick tossed a vial and infected gathered around it immediately, Alice taking aim at the group with the automatic. Simple enough? No. The noise had probably attracted every infected in the store, but hopefully not the ones on the outside. That was another reason Coach and Walsh went in the front way, they could meet in the middle and take them out quicker.

Like they expected, infected came from the other side of the store. They mauled through them with little difficulty. Since they were already close to the auto-repair part of the store, they sent Ellis to find gas while Alice and Nick held back the horde. After a while, Nick was able to grab a few bags and fill them with medicine from the pharmaceutical section.

And finally, Alice was allowed to duck into the fishing area of the store and fill her bags with maps and compasses. She grabbed some bait just in case and then some fishing line. She also found a few navigation systems and grabbed as many different types of batteries as she could. Duck tape would be nice, too.

"Forget that," she murmured and grabbed the Gorilla tape.

When she was done, Alice had a total of four backpacks. She walked back to where her team was and saw Ellis carrying gas cans in each hand, running with an excited face. She saw that Nick had a few backpacks himself.

"I already got the meds and put them in the car. I figured I'd try our luck and get some clothes too."

"Good idea," Alice said as he helped her with her own bags. They were going to be putting them on the floor boards so that Ellis could pack the trunk with nothing but gas. "We'll need some boating clothes too!"

"Boating clothes?"

"Yeah, you know, boots, jump suits and stuff. We'll need blankets and pillows... Uh... We need a lot of stuff. Come on and help me, when we're done they should be back with the food and they can help us."

Nick shrugged and they did have a lot of good fortune in finding just about everything they needed and more.

* * *

"You don't need to get any closer," Rochelle warned, watching the infected boy fidget on the other side of the seat, looking at her. Those eyes were just, soulless.

They were completely blank, and it was the same look all the other zombies had, discounting the rage. They unsettled her, and now she was stuck in a car with one of them, without a weapon and injured. Tiny as it was, she would still be on the short end of the stick should it go ballistic, as infected _tended_to do. It was staring at the bottle in her hands, then again it was always staring at what others had; probably hoping they'd hand it over.

"This is _mine_."

It occurred to Rochelle that the bottle of water seemed to have been used before, not even having the label on it. Probably by both Jacob and the thing. Giving out a sigh of disgust, she held it out to the infected boy, cringing when he grabbed on with both enlarged hands. He brought it to his mouth and ended up emptying the rest of the bottle in a few seconds, still managing to get a quarter on the yellow jacket, head backing up and letting the hood fall as well.

Once the bottle was empty, the boy quickly lost interest in both it and her, instead turning in the seat and looking out the back window. Having nothing better to do, she took time to study it.

The first word that came to Rochelle's mind to sum it up: Crooked.

Curled in places; bent in others...even the nose was bent. The thing was an ugly kid, probably just as ugly as before all this started. Well, at least the hair was nice, she reasoned, trying to balance it out. Curly, short and blonde. Like her previous Ex had had.

They must have been in there for at least ten minutes by now and Rochelle could feel her eyelids growing heavy, despite the throbbing pain in her chest and infected still looking outside.

"You'd better not try anything," she mumbled, watching as he blurred and disappeared from view.

-o-

"Those guys carry that stuff _around?_"

Coach reloaded his rifle, giving Walsh a withering look and shaking his head. "You're a bright kid, Jacob. Figure it out."

Walsh frowned, he wasn't some teen, he was going on thirty. The vials of fetid vomit from Gravids being flung had just taken him by surprise.

Nick apparently had a bunch of them in a plastic bag and had been using them inside. It'd been incredibly effective in drawing all the infected tight so they could take them out in one big wave. It'd taken over fifteen minutes, but it'd also been done with next to no damage to the team. Now they were only dealing with stragglers every once in awhile as they scavenged the aisles.

"Nick found a load of them on the CEDA scientists. You don't remember the bunch he and Alice cleaned out by the elevator?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I do. What a waste."

"I think they put it to some damned good use."

Walsh shook his head, looking past Coach and pointing at all the meat still there, untouched by the stores occupants. A testament to how mindless the majority of them were, unable to recognize food of all things. "No, I meant that."

They'd already filled two carts up with an array of canned meats and vegetables, powdered and shelf milk as well as canned, gallons of water, heavy bags of rice, dried noodles, quite a bit of sugar at Coaches insistence as well as flour and a few other things. There were even quite a few perishables, which probably wouldn't last the night. They'd already collected the other stuff, soaps, brushes, tissue, even razors.

As well as other necessities.

Walsh still had to take a quick foray into a certain section as well, hopefully when Coach wasn't looking so he could hide the packages under the food. If anyone saw what it was, it'd be the end of all his dignity.

"Shit," the older man muttered, looking at all the different meats. "That'd be a real shame." He started piling the packages on top of his cart, one after the other. Walsh watched in amazement at how much he was grabbing.

"It'll spoil. What are you doing?"

"Not if we stuff it in a cooler it won't. Go fill a big one up, we'll just stick that bad boy in the back seat with us. And don't forget to grab the Entenmann's frosted cake on your way back."

* * *

"Hey!" Alice's back straightened with a jolt. "Why don't we just hook a trailer to the back? We can get more stuff that way!"

"Hell yeah. That'll give us more riding room too!" Ellis yelled and headed back in the auto shop.

They hooked it up and began to move things around. Fixing everything to fit perfectly and have room to put the food in the car just to make sure they didn't lose it. They then put a large tarp over the trailer and tied a Jacuzzi to it to make it more of a dome for their items.

"Well, that was a good idea." Nick shrugged when the job was done.

"Yeah, I thought so too." Alice nodded in approval.

"I'll go get more gas!" Ellis jumped at the opportunity before Alice could say another word.

"How long does he think we'll be out there?" she asked when she was sure he was out of ear shot.

Nick smirked. "He's just happy he's being helpful."

"Ah," Suddenly a thought came to Alice and she nearly screamed at her stupidity. "I'll be right back!"

"Hey!" Nick yelled, she was already running back in the store. "Hold on a second!"

"NO! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STAY THERE!"

She ran down the aisles, only finding one infected on the way, easy enough. She took another book bag off the rack. (It was oddly convenient how the Green Flu came just in time for school.) Finally, she reached the aisle she was looking for.

'Ladies department'

She wasn't gonna be caught blindsided when her or Ro had their time of the month.

To her surprise, she found Walsh.

"Glad somebody was thinking the same thing." His eyes widened and he looked between her and the bag. "No, really! I almost forgot!"

She walked his way, bent down and picked up the bag he was packing everything in. "Here, I'll take care of this. Frankly, I'm not planning anything anytime soon, but I don't know about Ro or the others, right? She tossed his bag back to him and began to fill her own with pads, tampons, and lines. Personally, Alice never cared for tampons. But she really just didn't know what would come up, so why risk it?

"Go help out Nick or Coach, that should be less embarrassing for you, big guy."


	5. Chapter 5

The whole time Alice was holding the bag, Walsh couldn't help but have one petrified thought run circles in his mind: _God...in heaven. Please, please don't let her figure out what I was doing. Because I could never live that shit down._

Thankfully she'd passed it off, thinking he'd intended it for her and Rochelle and he let out a breath in relief.

He nodded immediately and went to get the contraceptives, only too happy to get out of that one-sided conversation unscathed.

-o-

What was clutching at her? Her hand pushed against it, trying to dislodge it as her fingers made contact with curly hair; her eyes shot open as she struggled with it in earnest.

"Fuck! Get the f- Get off me! Oh Jesus! Get off!"

At that moment, she sounded worse off than a child, too far gone in skin-crawling fright to deepen her voice from the wheezing squeal it'd become at the realization. Rochelle couldn't bring herself to care though, even as her chest flared in renewed pain at her erratic movements. It was touching her and it had to cut that shit out _right now_.

There was a metallic thud outside and she froze, forcing herself not to move as the infected clutched harder at her legs. What had Jacob said? Keep the windows up and keep low? Check and check...but the kid hadn't followed those rules.

"I even got her extra tires and new keys. And some lights cause she lost two of them with all the ass kicking. Fuck, we gonna have the most badass car in history!"

She'd never been so happy to hear that boy in the short time they'd all been together.

Rochelle attempted to sit up slowly, intent on seeing an immune face and wasn't disappointed. They were fitting a trailer to the back, and it seemed to have caused everyone to go completely nuts with the supplies.

Was Ellis holding a _crossbow?_

Hearing it in her head did nothing to ground the bizarre observation. It was like an alternate reality that didn't even need zombies in it to be far worse, because in that one, this boy had a crossbow. Rochelle rolled down the window, making sure to drag the hood over Billy's head once more. Ellis hadn't yet let on that he knew, which probably meant he didn't. "El! What...where'd you get that!"

"Inside! There's a hunting section, we all restocked on ammo too. Nearly cleared the whole place out!" Ellis yelled, jogging up to the car and leaning in. "Shiiit. It's pretty badass isn't it?" he - might as well have stated instead of - asked, grinning wickedly from ear to ear. "You have GOT to see what we picked up!"

Rochelle honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Fuck..."

"Ro! Not around the kid! He's gonna pick up those bad words."

"Double fuck," she retorted squarely, knowing it was childish and weak but still daring him to challenge her in the tone of her voice. Ellis instead gave a crooked, flirty grin, leaning in further and whispering close to her.

"You are _bad_..."

Rochelle's eyes darkened as blood rushed to her face and she silently cursed once more. Oh, that boy was _very _lucky he could be so aggravating and she was hurt, because he wouldn't know what he was getting into...the things she'd do to him.

"Where is everybody?"

"Coach and Jacob are still getting more grub, though really I think they're still eating that Entenmann's cake by the holiday section...both think they're real sneaky. And Nick is just watching the front for now while Alice grabs more stuff for the boat. I still got to get some more gas, Ro. I'll be back." he said, jogging back toward the store and making sure to point the crossbow at Nick on the way.

The conman ducked and swore loudly enough for her to hear. He was carrying more than a few packs from what she could see as he got closer.

"Why the hell does Ellis have a crossbow!"

"Walmart has a hunting section...do I get a gun too?"

"You can't shoot."

"...well if I still had my bat that you left behind, then I wouldn't have asked."

"Then I'll get you a brand new one, sweetheart. Better yet, I'll teach you how to shoot," he said, walking back to the trailer and packing it further. "By the way!" he called to her, "It's nice to see you two getting along! Makes me feel all warm inside! ...Course, that could just be indigestion and pent up disgust!"

"Oh, Nick. You are such a charmer."

She looked down at the infected that seemed to be perfectly content in her lap, having forgotten it until now. "I'm not a pillow, you know." But there was no real bite this time, instead, she leaned her head by the open window, enjoying the cool breeze and lack of enraged screams and strife.

The door on the other side was pulled open as Walsh slid in, looking particularly smug with a gleaming new pistol strapped to him as he gave her a smile. He ran his hand over Billy's back, charming the infected into crawling over to him.

"You've got crumbs right there," Rochelle said, watching in amusement as he rushed to clean off the evidence.

"Probably blood. There was a lot of fighting."

"Whatever you say," she told him, just as the kid tried to take a bite out of his lips.

She could see Coach on his way back, dragging a big box in a trolley. Nick came back over, leaning by the window and she craned her head out further. He handed her a loose, cotton shirt and she thanked him, before asking just what the hell had happened to the plan.

"Hell if I know, one minute we were talking about maps and medicine, the next Coach is hauling in a grill... Oh for fuck's sake..." Nick muttered, catching sight of Ellis running toward them excitedly. "We do not _need _any more gas, Ellis! We are good on the gas!"

The boy in question had around four cans on him and Rochelle bit back a laugh. "What the hell?"

"Trying to impress his girlfriend, obviously. It'll be such a shame when he figures out that she's only a car."

Rochelle slid over as Coach opened the door by her, just barely catching the big plastic bag tossed toward her way. "I don't know about any of you, but I am hungry."

That was very strongly seconded.

Ellis made to get in the driver's seat but Nick quickly cut him off. "Oh no, hell no. I'm driving this time."

"W-what? Awww..." he grumbled, practically pouting, which was only making the effect more amusing by the weapon still in his hands. "You be good to her. I've got my eye on you."

Nick looked at the vehicle in question, both covered in multiple dents and splatters of blood and what seemed to be flesh. There was even leftover acid on the windshield. "...You positive that you didn't hit your head during that ride?"

"Those are the scars of BATTLE, Nick. She _sacrificed_ for us. How can you not see that?"

"For the love of Christ, Ellis, it's a _car_," he retorted, getting comfortable in the seat and putting the newly minted keys handed grudgingly to him in the ignition. "Just get in already."

Ellis sidled in the front, shortly followed by Alice as he stroked the leather upholstery and whispered how 'Nick didn't mean it'.

* * *

"You know where the docks are, Coach?" Alice tossed the question over her head, fixing her pillow against the door.

"Yeah, but it'll take us a good while to get there and we need our rest. We might as well just pull over for the night."

-o-

They had pulled over near a small clearing, making sure all infected were nowhere in sight. The Jacuzzi tug was pulled off the trailer and they began to set up camp. Everyone did their part in setting up, even Billy who was watching over Rochelle for them, well, more like Rochelle watching over Billy, but it was the thought that counted. A fire was lit and Coach was already flipping burgers on the grill. The team even went so far as to set up lawn chairs around the camp fire for their meal.

Alice had to admit, it was nice after such a long day, after all these days. She curled herself up in a green lawn chair, pulling a hoodie over her head to provide more warmth. It shocked her to see Billy climb up next to her and sit on the arm of her chair. She tried not to pay much mind to it, but it was paying attention to her.

It was under said stare that she finally went for the beer which was tucked tightly in the cooler full of ice. Alice twisted off the lid and took a swig, grimacing as the drink slithered down her throat.


End file.
